


Of Broken Wings and Secrets Unwhispered

by starfishsquish



Series: angel wings and lullabies [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: "Don't take the money" bleachers, Abuse of italics, Angst, Childhood Friends, F/F, Fear of Rejection, First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending, Internalised Homophobia, M/M, Memories and Reminiscences, Pining Keith (Voltron), angel au, compulsory heterosexuality, klance, minimal dialogue, self hatred
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 17:36:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14774123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starfishsquish/pseuds/starfishsquish
Summary: Angels grow up painfully averagely. They learn to walk, learn to talk, learn to fly, learn to fall in love.For Keith, it was all out of order.





	Of Broken Wings and Secrets Unwhispered

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this to "Don't take the money" by bleachers on repeat so u should maybe listen ;)

Angels grow up painfully averagely. They learn to walk, learn to talk, learn to fly, learn to fall in love.  
For Keith, it was all out of order. He never had a mentor, never had a good parent. He simply tried to teach himself to fly on his best friend's swing. He could remember the first time.  
Lance pushed him on a the swing in his backyard, one that generations of angels learnt how to fly on. He was always told he wasn't allowed to do this. He knew he would be scolded, scorned, that his father explode. But he continued, taking deep breaths. Keith let go of the chains, letting the swing fling him across the yard. He spread his wings, hoping to glide, and for a second, he felt free.

Then he crashed head first into the fence, tumbling down onto the ground. Pain shot through his shoulder, through his skull, through his wings. Lance rushed over, gently helping him up. He gently placed a hand on Keith's wings, frowning. “Oh… They're all crumpled.”  
Keith gave a small shrug, wincing. “They're always like that.”  
Lance brought him into the house, gently smoothing band-aids over his cuts. He wouldn't realise it until much later, but that was the day Keith fell in love.

  
At fourteen, Keith gained his first and only girlfriend, a pretty girl named Allura. She should have been the perfect match for Keith: she was beautiful, deep skin, strong, golden wings, and curly silver hair. She seemed to radiate an aura safety and warmth. Keith thought she'd make a great friend, even if she was a little too good at tag for his liking.  
But everytime they held hands, keith wanted to throw up. Every awkward kiss they shared under the trees made Keith want to run away and never return.  
At the time, he brushed it off. Maybe he just felt ashamed. She was so powerful. She was strong, and rich, and confident. Aerial sports were a daily activity. Keith could hardly get himself off the ground. Sure, his dad may have nudged him into this, but Allura was perfect. She was everything he should have wanted. Why wasn’t he happy?

The day Allura told him things wouldn't work out was simultaneously the best and worst day of his life. He felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off his chest. That feeling lasted a few hours, at least. It disappeared the moment he started questioning it. He was in love, right? That was what everyone had told him.  
_Oh, you poor dear. She was an amazing girl, you could have led such a nice life._

As he always was, Lance was there, providing a gentle shoulder to cry on. He stretched a shimmering wing to nudge Keith's crumpled own ones. They sat on the swings, the space between them short but infinite.  
“Dude, there's plenty of other girls out there, he told him, voice and face soft. “Is this the wing thing?”  
Keith had given a short nod, a pout on his constantly downturned lips.  
Lance snickered, shaking his head.  
“That's stupid. You're like, amazing at everything else and you can't be good at everything. That's my job!”  
He gave a bright smile, the setting sun colouring his skin gold.  
Keith felt a surge in his heart, and butterflies in his stomach. For a fleeting moment, everything felt okay. Everything felt… Perfect.  
_Oh. Ohhhhhhhhhh, shit._  
_Now_ , he understood. 

 

He took a deep breath, letting himself sneak a final lingering glance at the other boy, before standing, making a stupid excuse, something along the lines of needing to make dinner. He had to get away. This wasn't _right_. 

 

 _Keith_   _wasn't right._

 

For her 16th birthday, Allura threw a party. She and Keith had stayed close, spend nights and days laughing and singing and talking together. She knew why things didn’t work out with Keith. There was a girl, who wore leather jackets and her hair in blonde pigtails.  
Keith understood.  
The night was young, and Keith took a single step out of his shell, letting his true colours begin to shine through.

He saw Lance, his face and hands bathed in moonlight, and his wings glinting diamonds, and in a second, all the feelings flowed back into Keith's soul. In Keith's drunk and blurry mind, nothing seemed clearer. Keith was so in love, and there was nothing he could do.  
And then they were dancing, a slow song that made Keith feel like they were the only people there, like they were the only people who had ever existed and ever would exist. Lance's eyes glinted, full of a familiar mischief, and soon their lips came together in a wonderful balance, Keith's heart stopping.  
This could go so, so wrong.

What if Lance was just drunk? He couldn't possibly want to kiss Keith sober. Or what if he did, and their relationship was a disaster? What if they fought daily, making both of them miserable? What if they broke up and ruined their friendship?  
_Keith, you've already ruined it._  
But now, all they had was this kiss, and it could go so, so _right_.

If this kiss was the first of a billion, things would be perfect. Keith would stop at nothing to make Lance laugh. They could hold hands under the midnight. He'd be the gold to his silver, the moon to his sun. They could be perfect. Lance had been by his side no matter what…. Why would that change?  
The kiss broke, and Lance gave his usual smile, bright and beautiful, his breath stained with honey and rum. His eyes were tired, but relieved, like he'd been waiting a million years for this. Keith felt electric at Lance's touch, at the fingers gently cupping his cheek. He found he'd lost his breathe, and his ability to speak. They'd lost so much time together. So many secrets went unwhispered between them, so many stories untold. Too many games unplayed. Keith had made a horrible mistake in letting this man out of his life, and he prayed they could make memories again.

And that was the start of a talk, one that seemed to last a thousand years. They lay on the roof, fingers and hearts intertwined. Lance learned why Keith pulled away. Keith learned Lance missed him every single day. There was a mutual understanding, and a mutual regret. They both agreed one of them should have spoken up. They didn't agree which.  
That kiss was the first of many that night, and each made Keith feel breathless, endless. After a million years, Lance still made him feel the same as he did after the breakup. Hell, it made him feel the same as he did when they were only kids, playing on the swings. This was permanent. Keith would never lose this feeling, and it was so… Beautiful, that he never wanted to.

Angels grow up painfully averagely. They learn to walk, learn to talk, learn to fly, learn to fall in love.  
For Keith, it was all out of order, but it was finally coming to a close.  
Lance's hand gently stroked his wings, dark skin contrasting to the bright feathers. A soft kiss was placed upon his cheek, and a soft, “you can do this,” was whispered in his ear.  
Keith gave a small smile, glancing fondly at his boyfriend. He took a deep breath, sat down on the swing, and pushed off.  
It was barely a minute before he let go, and he was thrown from the swing set. He spread his wings, and suddenly, for the first time ever, Keith was weightless. He was finally flying. 


End file.
